This invention relates to all-purpose cleaning compositions. More particularly the invention is directed to cleaning compositions which can be singularly used in the cleaning and maintenance of restrooms.
To professionally clean and maintain lavatories, particularly in large commercial buildings, it has heretofore been necessary to use a number of cleaner products such as toilet bowl cleaners, deodorizers, abrasive cleaners, bright-work polishes and cleaners, floor soap, all-purpose detergents and cleaners, tile and grout cleaners and abrasive pads. Attempts have been made in the past to replace these products with a single product which can be used effectively in each of the cleaning operations normally accomplished by different individual products. Unfortunately, all such attempts have failed in one way or another. For example, prior art compositions formulated as single product cleaners have been found to suffer from one or more of the following drawbacks:
(1) fail to perform as effectively in one or more of the different cleaning applications as the normally used individual product.
(2) exhibit dilution handling and application difficulties.
(3) are not environmentally acceptable, e.g. constituting a hazard to the surfaces treated and/or persons who come in contact with the cleaner.
(4) possess an intolerable odor.
(5) exhibit an inability to adapt to other cleaning environments.
(6) are expensive.
(7) leave unsightly films or streaks upon drying necessitating an additional step of rinsing, etc.
The prior art as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,793,221, 3,832,234 and 4,181,622 and the Union Carbide publication entitled, "Emulsions and Detergents", Union Carbide Company, New York (1961) is filled with descriptions of acid cleaning compositions including inorganic acids such as oxalic and citric acids such as phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid and mixtures thereof. To date none of these cleaning compositions has proved to be an acceptable single, multi-purpose cleaning compositions for one or more of the reasons noted above.